The Legislature needs to get out of the way on paid sick days | Opinion

Every day, nurses see the barriers that keep patients from receiving the preventive care they need to stay healthy. Nurses bear witness to the ways ruthless employers refuse their employees the ability to go the doctor when they're sick.

Antoinette Kraus (PennLive file)

Too many low-wage workers in Pennsylvania are forced to decide between going to work sick or losing a day's income, between paying the rent or jeopardizing public health, between taking care of sick children or losing their jobs.

As a health insurance navigator and an advocate for high-quality, affordable health care for all Pennsylvanians, The Pennsylvania Health Action Network (PHAN) works with folks around the state to get health coverage and to understand the reasons that they may not be able to get the care they need to stay healthy.

PHAN sees many people each year who, though insured, cite barriers to getting care, including difficulty getting paid time off from employers to see their doctors when they are ill.

This is a public health crisis, and it's one that is disproportionately affecting women, African American and Latino workers, all of whom are overrepresented among low-wage workers and among part-time workers.

It contributes to the measurably worse health outcomes that women of color face, including higher mortality rates from stroke, heart disease, and breast cancer.

But it is a public health crisis that we can fix. In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, coalitions of workers, faith leaders, healthcare professionals and elected leaders have passed local ordinances to ensure that all workers have access to paid sick days.

These policies, given a chance, can be a roadmap for other cities to follow, or even a starting point for state legislation.

But instead, legislators at the Capitol want to prevent cities from implementing simple measures like paid sick days as part of a disturbing trend of corporations and states interfering with the ability of local governments to protect the health and well-being of their residents.

Pennsylvanians know that local democracies are best qualified to address and solve the problems in their communities and reflect the views and values unique to their neighborhoods. When state legislators stop local municipalities from passing their own laws or overturn existing laws, they silence the voice of the people, rob local democracies of their power, and hurt the communities' health, safety, and economic well-being.

While the policies they seek to overturn are driven by grassroots efforts, state preemption policies are written and promoted by corporate interests, and enacted by legislators who are under the sway of corporate lobbyists.

Their goal is to maximize corporate profits by suppressing reforms that protect workers, improve workplace conditions, and raise wages. And they've been effective; passing laws in 28 states to prohibit localities from setting a higher minimum wage, and in 23 states to prohibit local paid sick leave policies.

This is not a trend Pennsylvania should follow. Preempting local labor protections will have a chilling effect on issues well beyond paid sick leave and the minimum wage. The threat of state interference will loom over all local efforts at innovative problem solving, whether the goal is to address the opioid epidemic, gun violence, or criminal justice reform.

We need to fight for a better future for our state.

That's one where the state Legislature does not hold back local governments, but instead, allows them to use the direct knowledge of their own communities to create family-sustaining wages, provide paid sick days, and build opportunities for more Pennsylvanians to thrive.